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October 07, 2008

AA to filter in-flight 'net porn

American Airlines will filter pornographic content from its new in-flight Internet service, after after hearing complaints from family groups as well as worries from flight attendants.

The Fort Worth-based airline launched the wireless Internet service, called Gogo, in August on a limited number of flights between New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami. The service is provided by wireless communcations firm Aircell.

"Since the launch of Gogo, American has not experienced any reported incidents of customers viewing inappropriate content via the Gogo service," airline officials said in a statement. "However, we believe this is an appropriate measure to take."

Initially, American executives said they would not filter or block any content. Instead, they said flight attendants would respond to any complaints from passengers about inappropriate Internet surfing using guidelines already in place.

But several pro-family groups, including Focus on the Family, expressed concerns that children could be exposed to pornographic Internet sites by adjacent passengers.

And the Association of Professional Flight Attendants told airline officials that it was unfair for flight attendants to be expected to police Internet content during flights.